Saturday: FP3 and Qualifying at the Madring.
The last hour of practice before Qualifying, and a shortened one — two red flags cost the field around 30 minutes of running, so every lap counted. The Audi Revolut F1® Team made the most of what was left: Nico Hulkenberg put the car eighth on the timesheets, with Gabriel Bortoleto rounding out the top ten in P10. Both cars in the top ten on limited mileage at a circuit everyone is still learning — a good place to be heading into Qualifying. Qualifying for the first Spanish Grand Prix at the Madring came down to hundredths, and the Audi Revolut F1® Team was in the mix throughout. After running near the front across all three practice sessions, Nico Hulkenberg took P11 with Gabriel Bortoleto right behind him in P12 — both cars through to Q2 and separated by the smallest of margins. That puts the two of them side by side on row six for Sunday, with a clear run at the race ahead.
Allan McNish, Racing Director: "It was a very tight qualifying session at a circuit on which getting laps together is not easy. Despite this, both Nico and Gabi, as well as the crews, were able to deliver a good performance. Unfortunately, less than two hundredths of a second was the difference between getting into Q3 or not for Nico: it was a tiny margin, but we were just on the wrong side of that. I think that was the most we could extract for our car, so we can't be too disappointed with that. Overall, with both cars up there on the edge of the top ten, it was another strong performance by the team, especially in light of the upgrades our rivals have brought in the last few races.
Nico Hulkenberg (Car 27):
FP3: 8th / 1:33.933 (14 laps)
Q1: 1:34.417 (7 laps)
Q2: 11th / 1:33.223 (6 laps)
"It was incredibly tight today, and we missed out on Q3 by just 0.019s. We knew qualifying around a brand-new circuit would be close, and that's exactly how it turned out. Tomorrow is still a bit of an unknown. It's the first race here, so nobody really knows how things will unfold. We have to be ready for whatever comes our way. The priority will be to stay out of trouble early on, and then see what we can make of the race."
Gabriel Bortoleto (Car 5):
FP3: 10th / 1:34.288 (15 laps)
Q1: 1:33.986 (6 laps)
Q2: 12th / 1:33.388 (6 laps)
“I actually think today was not too bad, but it was difficult to put the perfect lap together. In all fairness, it's been a bit of an odd weekend so far: we have changed the car quite a lot from yesterday, and I did find more confidence in Qualifying, but I think there was definitely more on the table for us today.
“Looking at tomorrow, I think there is a chance for us to move forward, but it will depend a lot on our pace and how much tyre degradation will impact us. As always, we’ll give our best and see where it takes us.”